Wise Words Wednesday #1

I took this photo standing in my field  yard on a gorgeous evening last fall

And it made me think of heaven, 

so I paired it with this lovely scripture from 1 Corinthians.

Feel free to share it, and by just hovering over the picture a "Pin it" button will appear.  

If you like it, let me know in the comments section below!  

Thanks Y'all!

Why I think Bloglovin' is Bitchin'

As most all of you know

(And are more than likely SUPER sick of hearing about)

GFC and Google Reader are gonna be bye-bye soon

When I found this out a couple months ago, I was pretty miffed.

I worked my buns off acquiring new friends through GFC and I was proud of the number of readers I had gotten

Only to feel the crushing blow of Google's bad news.  

Blog Button Design Battle -- Season 2

Hello my Lovelies!  

Guess what?

I'm participating in the.....

Welcome to Round 2 of the Blog Button Design Battle: Season 2 with Peacoats & Plaid. Want to know who won Round 1? Drum roll please...

For the first time there was a tie: 2 winners! Congrats to both Ellie from Creative Geekery! Ellie's winning button design:

And Lisa from God, Make Me a Godly Woman! Lisa's winning design:

This week's participants include:



Bethany from The Sepia Puppy

Amanda from Living in Another Language

Hannah from Joyful Life

Yaya from Dream It, Darling

Jasmine from Sassy Brunette

Amanda from The Pretty Pinhead

Amber from Dressing Room Diaries

Kera from Nugget on a Budget

Sarah from Limited Space Organizing

Lindsey from Two Bobbins Later



Vote for your favorite and most eye-catching button by clicking on the thumbnail below. Make sure you're voting solely on eye appeal. You can only vote once, so make it count.

An InLinkz Link-up

Check back next week for Round 3. If you're interested in participating in Season 3 of the Blog Button Design Battle, make sure you subscribe to Peacoats & Plaid for updates.

G2D2 -- DOES NOT COMPUTE! Kids Robot Costume

During the School year Tristan (my eight year-old) goes to Choir after school every Wednesday at the local Methodist church

I love it.  He learns awesome stuff and he gets to sing and dance and be creative.

Well every year at the end of each semester of school they have a big performance

And this spring was the first time Tristan ever had more that 1 line and we were so excited

I Am Eve Link Party

Welcome to the "I Am Eve" Link Up!

This is a link up based on growing in the love we have for ourselves.

Being proud to be REAL women.

Here you can share post that are about bettering ones self image or share the struggles you have with yourself.

1) Grab the "I Am Eve" button

<div align="center"><a href="http://makemegodly.blogspot.com/" title="God Make Me A Godly Woman"><img src="http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t505/LostGarden/49c92f98-8468-47cf-a030-0e890d94728e_zpsb5f1aea4.jpg" alt="God Make Me A Godly Woman" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

2) Follow both Hosts (how you follow is your choice).

HOSTS

Lisa @ God Make Me A Godly Woman

and

Bethany @ The Sepia Puppy and grab her button!

3) DO NOT post your whole blog just a single post (you can link up to 3 post).

4) Visit at least 3 other blogs and try to leave an encouraging comment before leaving your blog link for them to follow.

5) Please do not link up any shops or items for sale.

6) Everyone show respect and be nice to one another, no rude comments about anyone else's link up.

Photo Regrets vs. Just Living It

Some of you may have already read in this post that my husband got a new job.  

We are SUPER excited and ready for this next big step in our lives.  

Well, when we found out that the he had 6 whole days off in a row we decided we were gonna try to have a mini vacay, mostly because with a new job comes a probationary period and no more stocked up vacation days and whatnot and not only that, the new job is an hour and a half from where we live now, a mere 12 miles from my dad and step-mom's front door (Or "Cookie" and "Bandad" as they are called here)

So we thought we should absolutely take advantage of this awesome opportunity while we had it and had no idea when we would have another chance.

We had talked a lot about going snorkeling in the keys and with six whole days we could totes get down to Key Largo and snorkel it up to our hearts content! 

Well....  That my sweet friends did not work out.

We were insanely bummed.

His boss informed him that even though he was scheduled to be off those 6 straight days that he had to come in on Saturday to work a festival in town, right in the MIDDLE of the formerly awesome off days.

My super handsome man, driving me to the beach

Super Colorful Rainbow WIP

I got this super awesome PDF ebook from "All Free Crochet" the other day, and it was all patterns for baby blankets/afghans.
You can download it free here

They are all pretty awesome, but the one that caught my eye most was this one below.  It's so cool and I thought it would be really fun looking with a gradient effect. 

I was NOT wrong.

Memorial Day and What it Should Mean to You

Memorial Day when I was growing up was basically just a cookout and hangout occasion.

I had no idea what it really meant for a good while.  and I can say now that even when I did find out what it was, I STILL didn't REALLY understand what Memorial Day means.

What changed my view of Memorial day was marrying into the military.

My husband was in the Navy (a Corpsman) but was stationed with and worked solely with the Marines.  

He went on 3 combat deployments during his 5 and a half years and let me just say, that business will bring the strongest person to their knees.  

the stress, the worry, the danger.

Its horrible.  

But by the time you make it to the end of the seven months (or 4 or 12 or 18 depending) it's magic all over again.  the separation was all worth it because it's over.

Going through the whole shebang really made me hurt for those who over the years haven't been able to come home.  or the ones who don't have someone to go and wait for anymore.

It genuinely hurts my heart,

I started crying in the car the other day driving through town because they had the crosses out along the road with the names of fallen soldiers, marines, and sailors and where they served.  

I was blessed enough to get my husband back, and so many have not been so lucky. 

So Memorial day isn't about getting together and drinking beer and grilling out.  It's about honoring those who have protected our right to do those things, and honoring those who've lost loved ones in the armed forces.

So this weekend when you are together with friends or family or you are having that beer and grilling those burgers and dogs, just take a moment to honor those service-members.

They earned the right to be called citizens and they deserve to be remembered fondly and respected for their sacrifice.

*******

The following are just a few of the pictures from my husband's homecomings that I wanted to share.

These pictures and these events commemorate that we made it through some of the most difficult experiences a marriage and a family can ever go through and we were stronger for it. 

I am thankful to God everyday that He guided Elliott safely home.

2007

2009

Shining Happy Changes!

I am so excited to announce that my husband just got a new job!

He starts at the first of June, and we couldn't be happier or more excited!

source

A Walk in the Park... or Rather a Run and a Picnic

This past Saturday we went to Hamburg State Park in Warthen, GA to just spend the day and have a picnic.
We had such a good time, as usual.
You may remember we made a similar trip in September, if not here's the post  and you can see the pictures and how much has changed in the last 6 or so months.

This was an awesome day:

This is for my dad, who insisted I find a better pic of him to put on the blog.